Tuesday, February 21, 2012

~ Party Recipes ~ Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Lasagna

I usually make Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Manicotti but yesterday after I started mixing all the ingredients for my filling I noticed I didn't have enough Manicotti so I decided to make it a Lasagna instead. It was delicious! So I thought of sharing the recipe here as I think Lasagnas are perfect to serve in a party, as you can always make them and freeze them ahead of time and just warm up for the party.

Steam Spinach for 5 minutes in a double boiler and mix with the rest of the ingredients.

RED SAUCE:

1 jar of Strained Tomatoes

3/4 of the same jar filled with water.

1/2 Onion

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

Fresh Basil

Salt & sugar

1 teaspoon Roasted Red Peppers seasoning mix

In a large pot saute 1/2 chopped onion for about 5 minutes, add 1 Strained or Pureed Tomato Jars, Water {Fill with water 1/2 of the tomato jar and pour in the pot}, Fresh basil leaves, season with roasted garlic and red pepper seasoning mix, pinch of salt and pinch of sugar

Cook in low for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I always make a lot of this sauce and freeze to have it ready when needed. You can also add a carrot and a celery stick while cooking for extra-flavor and just remove before serving

COOKED LASAGNA NOODLES: Cook using package directions. I usually boil 9 lasagna noodles for a 9x13 glass pan for 3 layers of Pasta and 2 of filling in between.

Now that you have all ready, Add Red sauce to the bottom of your lasagna pan and star layering your lasagna as follows:

Pasta, Red sauce, Filling and repeat again. Finish with a layer of pasta, red sauce, and Parmesan Cheese. Sprinkle Dry herbs on top. Cover with Aluminum Foil and bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Uncover the lasagna and bake for another 5 minutes.

You can also use the filling to stuff Manicotti, just put some sauce at the bottom of your pan, put your stuffed manicotti cooked shells, cover with red sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.